


Glain's Sunday

by blessedharlot



Series: Glain: A Week in the Life [7]
Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Aro Ace Glain Wathen, Canon Asexual Character, Fluff, Gen, Gender, Genderfluid, Genderfluid Everybody, Genderfluid Worldbuilding, Glain Has Hobbies, Great Library Transtopia, No Romance, No Sex, OC - Alice - Freeform, Post-Series, Trans Character, Trans Girl Glain Wathen, day in the life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22743451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessedharlot/pseuds/blessedharlot
Summary: Glain enjoys a day at the beach, and supports a new friend.
Relationships: Glain Wathen & Original Character(s)
Series: Glain: A Week in the Life [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608322
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Glain's Sunday

They were halfway to their destination when Glain caught the strong scent of the breeze off the Mediterreanean.

Her new roommate Alice made Sunday walks out to the beach - her “Sabbaths,” she called them - and for this one, this week, she invited Glain. Glain wasn’t sure what was involved, besides a leisurely hike and the meal they brought to eat. But she decided it sounded pleasant enough.

“So is there the body and blood of Christ in this pack, then?” Glain asked, eyeing Alice’s bag.

“What?” Alice asked, sounding slightly scandalized. “No, of course not.”

“Then what’s the religious significance about?”

“Oh, it’s a Sabbath.”

“Yes, you mentioned that word.”

“It means rest.”

“Mmmm. A 20-mile round-trip trek is my kind of rest,” Glain grinned. 

Alice shook her head. “It’s a different sort of rest. It’s about… inwardness.”

Glain concentrated, trying to understand.

“Think of it as,” Alice mused, “as an offering. The time I’m taking to do this, is time when I’m not doing anything else in my life. I’m not working for the Library. I’m not cooking or cleaning. It’s time dedicated to the Creator. And to creation!”

Alice spread her arms wide, as if to make her point. And though Glain noticed there were two bars and an abandoned storefront included in Alice’s embrace, there was also a beautiful sky, and a sliver of their beach destination coming into view as they walked. 

“What action dedicates this time to a creator?” Glain asked.

“My intention.”

“Alright,” Glain nodded, still concentrating. She might have an idea what Alice meant.

They weren’t yet past the last buildings blocking their view -- rickety wooden shacks holding various wares for sale - but the ground was growing far sandier underneath their feet. Glain felt the faint pleasure of that slight gait shift, her muscles keeping traction against the slip of the sand.

They walked in silence past the last of the buildings, past the more manicured public beaches with their heavy foot traffic, until they were surrounded by higher, grassier dunes and near solitude. The salt tang of the distant crashing waves joined the slight musk scent of the ecosystem that thrived at its edge. 

It was beautiful, in a calming way. Glain breathed it in, and had the impulsive thought that she should stay here for days. Alice looked her way with a grin, and Glain nodded. 

Glain had only one minor practical detail to handle before she settled in to enjoy the rest of the excursion. 

“I should have hit the head before we left,” she mused.

“Shall we double back to one of the shops?” Alice offered.

“No need, these dunes in the back are tall enough for privacy.”

“Oh, and you don’t have to squat and avoid peeing your clothes,” Alice said. “I'm jealous.”

“It comes in handy, I’ll grant you that,” Glain said.

Glain diverted to complete her mission out of view of the scant beach-goers, then joined Alice where’d she’d chosen to camp -- the middle sand, dry with short, rolling curves, too far away from the surf to have any current human inhabitants.

Glain eagerly kicked off her shoes, and stripped her overshirt off. No requirement to wear something over her athletic brassiere out here, where the sun could warm her skin. Then she helped Alice spread a blanket and weigh it down.

Alice flounced down with an unself-conscious sigh. “So gorgeous,” she said, staring up at the sky.

Glain leaned back on her hands, the warm breeze slowly settling into her muscles, as she decided which view she liked best. There was indeed a crystal blue sky. There was also the waves themselves. Or the surfers currently aiming for its highest waves.

“So you’re not Christian, then?” Alice said, somewhat unexpectedly. “My last Welsh friend was very Christian.”

“Wasn’t raised anything,” Glain shrugged. 

“Do you think about god? Or gods?”

“Not really. Mostly can’t be bothered with all that.”

“It’s so interesting,” Alice said. “All my friends are wildly religious. And you’re so driven, too!”

Glain chuckled good-naturedly. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Well, why did you choose the goals you have?”

“You know what my goals are,” Glain said, puzzled. “I’m lifetime High Garda.”

“Right, but why did you choose that?” Alice asked. 

“Did your god influence your life goals, then?”

“Most definitely.”

Glain frowned and thought. “I do what I do because I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m good at it.”

“There’s other things you’re good at, though, there must be,” Alice said. “How did you pick?”

Glain chewed on that question for a moment.

Alice sat up, but still looked like her thoughts were far away. “What meaning do you put to your life?” she asked.

Glain hummed in thought. Alice was certainly an introspective one. 

“Protection,” Glain said, thinking. “Protecting books. Protecting people. Protecting what’s good in the world, and what needs my help. Protecting my friends.”

Alice shook her head. “You helped change the world, Glain. You didn’t just stick with what other people told you about what was right. You certainly made your own choices on what should be protected, and what shouldn’t. You’ve got an iron compass in there somewhere. That kind that doesn’t rust.”

Glain leaned forward. She wasn’t entirely comfortable; this was an odd thread of reflection. Maybe that’s why she was curious where it was headed. “What are you getting at?” she asked.

A quick wave of bashfulness washed over Alice’s face. “I only wonder… have you no lingering questions? Now that you’ve seen battle?”

“Questions about what?”

"About… meaning and such? About how to make decisions now?”

Glain thought for a moment. She wondered if Alice was truly asking the question she wanted to ask. But Glain answered truthfully anyway.

“After what I’ve seen so far,” Glain said, “protection of what I Iove is even more important to me.”

Alice looked Glain’s way, then looked down and nodded.

“I think a lot about what makes life worth living these days,” Alice mused. “Not that I think it isn’t!” she added quickly. “Not that sort of question.”

“Maybe you’re trying to clear away distractions. Keep your focus,” Glain offered.

“Exactly.”

“What are your conclusions on what makes life worth living?”

“Sex.” Alice nodded introspectively.

Glain laughed. “Well I’ve got no input to offer there.”

It was as if Alice finally noticed who he was speaking to. “Oh, I’m sorry! No, I know! I didn’t mean-”

“You’re fine,” Glain laughed. “I’m just glad you’ve got a meaning of life that makes you happy.”

Alice blushed.

The conversation lulled. Glain was absolutely certain Alice was skirting the issue she was truly struggling with. Was she having aftereffects from a battle? There were plenty of support meetings around for that, Thomas and Khalila had seen to it. Glain didn’t think that was it… but she was absolutely lost at what else it might be. This situation really, _really_ wasn’t playing to her strengths. A part of her wished Khalila were here.

She had only silence to offer, until Alice could figure it out for herself. But Glain didn’t mind silence, at least. She sat and enjoyed the sun, and the warm living sand beneath her, and the crashing of the surf as it repeatedly spit up a few determined, smiling surfers.

A few minutes later, Alice spoke again. Glain could hear the slightly strained, deliberate casualness in her voice.

"How old were you when you told your parents you were a girl?" Alice asked.

"Oh, the usual,” Glain said. “Two or three years old, I think." 

"And you haven't ever changed your mind?" Alice asked.

"Not yet." Glain thought she might finally know where this was going. “You?”

“Same,” Alice said. “I mean I told them back then, too, when they asked.” Glain thought she’d say more, but Alice only pursed her lips.

Glain smiled. "You thinking of shifting?" she asked Alice.

Alice didn’t breathe for a moment. Then she took a quiet breath, and nodded.

“Easy enough to do,” Glain asked. “Shift to what?”

Alice was still, and then she shrugged silently.

“Lots of choices. What feels good?” Glain asked. “Or even just sparks your curiosity?”

“I don't know,” Alice said, with a fretful shake of her head. “My parents, they let us all choose just fine, of course. Initially. But after that… they're very old-fashioned, you know? ‘You pick one, you stick with it.’ Loyalty and dependability and such. My father will end up retiring from the job he got when he was 16, for God’s sake. They're just that kind of people.”

“Nothing wrong with being that kind of person," Glain said, with a smirk. "That doesn't mean we can't handle changes in the people we care about."

Alice looked thoughtfully at Glain, and nodded.

“There’s several options for gender in the Christian traditions, aren’t there?” Glain said. “Your god will be fine with it.”

“Um, yes. Five or six choices, I think.” 

“And the Library has more. You’re a citizen of the Library, Egyptian myth belongs to you too.”

“Right.”

“But you don’t have to know. You can shift to none, temporarily or permanently.”

“You’ve always known, though, haven’t you? You knew as a child.”

“That doesn’t make your way of doing this any less true than mine,” Glain said. Then she shrugged. “Alice. I’m not very practiced at not being sure about things. So I can tell this much. You know that your current classification doesn’t fit. You know that. Only you know whether it delights you or not. Don’t ignore that.”

Alice chewed her lip.

“To answer your previous question,” Glain said, “I choose my meaning in life by noticing what makes me passionate. Most people think I’m the practical sort, but I really just follow my heart. You’re allowed to put your whole heart into your own life. That’s more important than any obligations to family or god, quite frankly. If they want you half-hearted, they don’t deserve you anyway.”

Alice smiled sheepishly, her eyes a little brighter now.

“Beyond all that, I’m probably not much use to you on any specifics on this sort of thing,” Glain shrugged.

Alice chuckled quietly. 

“But this beach is a good one,” Glain said, smiling back. “Thank you for this.”

They sat together quietly, ignoring their meal a bit longer to enjoy the wind and sun and the solitude together.

**Author's Note:**

> The end! I hope you enjoyed these little meditations on who Glain might be outside her usual contexts. Thanks for reading!


End file.
